The Alpha Male
by The Eeveelution Kid
Summary: Born to the child of the alpha, and competing with six younger siblings for the place of the leader, I've always tried to live up to the impossible expectations. Things were never constant in my clan, but there was a certain change hovering in the air. It began with his volatility but I know that it won't end without bloodhsed. I'm Harmony, an I am going to be the alpha male.
1. The Prodigal Son

A/N: Hello, this is The Eeveelution Kid with another story. I know what some of you might be thinking. _What about Fire Dancer, and The Children of the Sun and Moon?_ Well, I've got the worst fucking case of writer's block in my life. I've found that sometimes, when I start writing something else, the way to finish those other chapters I have is clear. That does also mean that I begin a new story while writing another one or two. And then, I need to help myself with the new story...it's a never-ending chain, and also the reason most of my stories wind up in the garbage. Anyways, moving on.

This entire story is based off of the back story of one of my favorite role playing characters. So, I will not likely take suggestions for the direction the story might go, unless they're minor alterations. Mini adventures, things of the like. I can't guarantee anybody'll like this, but I hope that whoever does read this enjoys it thoroughly. The character himself's been over a year in the making.

That's all I have to say for now. So, to whom it may concern, I bring to you The Alpha Male.

My story begun like anybody else's, with the simple aspect of birth.

I hatched like from an egg like all pokemon (to my knowledge anyways) that my mother laid, and watched. I was told often that I was a gentle tyke, and didn't ever cause a fuss, but I was always a bit bigger than the others, and required a bit more attention. In the eyes of my father, I was already the perfect candidate as a successor for his place as the alpha when he would pass years later.

My mother had taken into consideration the dangers of the world, and had asked what if I was to die before he was, and there was nobody to take his spot? So, my father devised a simple plan, and as costly and primitive as it was, it would prove effective; the plan was simply to have more children! And so, they did. Because of my normally docile nature, and the duty they tasked me with as an infant; to keep my younger siblings in line when the time came, they named me Harmony. Don't let that name fool you at all, feminine as it is, I am a male. I will introduce you to my other siblings later.

When I hatched, the first thing I remember seeing was the gentle scrutiny of my mother's gaze. She, like my father, was a mightyena. Most people might find our kind to be intimidating, but to me, all I saw was a caring and kindly face, the one that promised love and happiness and support. I reached my little paws out, and had gotten a hold on her nose. I remember it vividly actually, how she had smiled with delight, and gave me the gift of breath through her nostrils. And out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my father. He was the image of mightyena that the rodents and all of the other prey of the forest feared. There was no caring nature in his eyes, not even for his own kin. His pelt did not appear soft, it appeared matted and dirty, as if he had never a day in his life groomed himself. His yellow eyes were not warm and soft, but cold and devoid of his soul, the only thing inside was a crude blackness that yearned to be free. When I first saw him, I bawled.

My mother had laughed, and joked that he had scared me, and I recall he didn't look amused in the least. The transition from without emotion to plain grumpy would have been humorous were it not for the fact that he was giving me one of the dirtiest stares I had gotten. Can you imagine that? Your first day on Earth; and you make an enemy, and to boot, that enemy is your own father. I kept crying into my mother's fur, and she hummed a sweet song to calm me. Before long, I was a docile little one.

The first year of my kind's life is mainly spend developing the brain and motor functions. Though most of us live longer than humans, we learn much quicker. I showed a particular aptitude for language, and I aced every physical lesson there was. The next year of my life was spent perfecting my skills, and putting them to use in the wild, outdoors. I'll admit, that was much easier than running around a cave, digging holes, and reciting the alphabet and vocabulary lists that I got. Shouting things while focusing on the path ahead of me proved to be incredibly difficult for me. I do pride myself in saying I did manage to get the swing of things quicker than other children my age. My mother often boasted about me. It was easy to make enemies, especially when you're better at something, and you feel the need to make sure that everybody knows it.

I was the star to some of my peers, and the walking incarnation of the devil himself to others. Some of them admired my seemingly natural aptitude for learning, whereas others were green like luscious grass with envy. Though most of my teaching was done by my mother and father, there were a few things that were taught to all of the young ones as a collective, such as how to think philosophically (which was the most boring subject there was) or determining which plants were poisonous and harmful, and which could aid us in times of dire need. As the child of the alpha male, only the best of the best was expected of me, and anything less was a great disappointment. While with the others, I often smiled and was cocky and prideful, trying to make it seem like I had passed that day's lesson with the utmost of ease. When I got home, I would be mentally exhausted, and unhappy.

It was during one of these classes that I got in a fight for the first time. Lucy, the daughter of a beta was bragging about the one time she did better than me in a class. It hadn't bothered me; it wasn't her who I had fought. It was one of the peers who looked up to me. Her boasting had been humorous to the others; even to me, but to that boy Jacob, it was blasphemy in its most treacherous form. When his blood had long since boiled, and steamed away through his ears, he lost his temper. He launched himself at Lucy, screaming at her to be quiet. I intervened, and tackled him from the side before he could reach the girl. We clawed and bit and scratched, and I came out victorious without a nick on me, where as I left him with a shallow bite and a deep gouge on his back. Mother and father were pleased with me that night.

Though I had been virtually unharmed in the scrap with Jacob, it was not long after when I was three or four that I had received my first scar. It scared me then, but I would later learn to wear them proudly. I was out with my father, and it was one of my first times hunting. We were chasing small game, like rattata for me.

"Get to its left! I'm going to its right!" my father shouted to me. Over the roar of the wind in my ears, and the fact that I could hardly focus on language and action on the same time, it took me a few seconds to put together what he had said, and followed his instruction. The rattata ran about ten yards ahead of us, I could hear it squeaking and wheezing with each labored adrenaline fueled breath it took. I didn't see why my father had wanted me to get to its left. I was focused on thinking about why that I didn't see why. I found myself on an incline, running up a log. I had barely gotten to the very end of it when my father screamed "Pounce!", and I did. I tackled the thing, and we rolled through the dirt, each of us grunting in discomfort and minor pain.

I knew what came next after watching father do it. I made sure that I wound up on top, and attempted to bite its neck. I missed, and the thing rolled around beneath me, then belly up. It hissed and squeaked and spat words that a tyke shouldn't hear at me, and in the midst of my confusion as to what 'fuck' meant, it landed a deep scratch on my chest. It stung, and it did not make me happy at all. I lunged down, and seized its neck between my jaws again. I felt a strange tug in my gut. This time, I let the subsequent anger fill me, and I bit down. There was a crack, such a sickening sound, with an even more sickening feeling between my jaws to follow, and it went limp.

I expected to be berated for showing weakness, and getting harmed in the process, but to my surprise, my father could not have been prouder. He instructed me to roll onto my back so that he could get a better look at the wound, and that was one of the few times I saw him smile. With vigor, he rushed me back home, to show my mother what had happened, but I had found that I would not be the center of attention that night. You see, during my upbringing, the dilemma of the possibility of my death had been brought up, and my mother had been impregnated. She laid six eggs in total(looking back on it now, what was a lot, even for our species.), each one identical in shape, size, texture, and pattern, but inside- I could always somehow- I don't know, feel the unborn pups inside. I could feel their personalities, I already knew their names. That night, the first egg hatched, and I had my first sibling.

This poochyena was a girl, and I told mother and father that her name was Truth. They had inquired how I knew this one's gender when this entire time, when she was curled up in a ball, drinking milk from one of mother's teats, and mother had asked how I knew what she had named the new pup. I found myself at a loss for an explanation, and I had simply said 'I knew so.' Mother had joked, asking if I had a little bit of psychic type in me. My playful boasting in reply earned me a swat on the back of the head.

Like me, Truth grew quickly, but her skills weren't as balanced as mine. While I wasn't totally perfect at anything, Truth made me look bad where she considered it to count; in intelligence. She could outwit me almost all of the time, she even successfully tested her cunning nature against an adult once or twice. However, she strained greatly with physical movement. That was the first time I had gotten along with her, really. I overheard her lesson taking place whilst I rested, and father erupted, screaming at the top of his lungs, asking why she couldn't get the simple motion of running right. He stormed off, saying that she would learn on her own, or die. It made my heard beat terribly in my chest, and he wasn't even talking to me!

I meandered over to the sad looking poochyena, and I nudged her with my nose. She looked up at me with tear filled eyes, and then looked down at her feeble legs. I kneeled slightly, and looked at them. I didn't see anything wrong with them, except for the fact that they were a bit thin. I decided not to point that out to Truth, and nudged her again. "Stand up," I said softly. I hadn't heard my voice in a while. My days consisted of learning hunting with father. He did all of the talking. It was a bit deeper than when I had last heard it, but it was still pretty high. Truth sighed in reply, and lied her head in the dirt between her paws.

"I don't want to." She said quietly. Her voice was significantly higher than mine, but I still didn't point that out. "If I do, then I'll have to run…and I can't do that, and it's embarrassing!"

"But if you don't, father won't try to teach you anymore!" I cried, pressing my cheek into her side, and pushing my meager weight against her. But seeing as how I had a few years on her, it was somewhat effective. "He's serious, Truth! If you don't, he's going to let you die!" I exclaimed.

Truth gave an overdramatic sigh in response, and she pushed herself up slowly, shakily. Without a moment to lose, I urged her to take another step. She did, and she wobbled like a newborn. I supported her weight when she wobbled, and I walked her in a broad circle until she had found her center of balance, and stood and walked all on her own. When she seemed to be walking around with no issue, I instructed her to keep walking in a circle, and I stood back, watching with a swell of pride and a broad grin on my face.

I had made a serious mistake.

"What _are_ you doing Harmony!" a loud shout rang from behind me, making me jump up from my lax position, entire body tensing, and my eyes shooting wide open. Truth fell over with a surprised scream. I whirled where I stood, and stumbled back, my heart beating almost painfully in my chest. I stared with horror into the unfathomably furious eyes of my father, who was almost frothing at the mouth, panting, glaring, simply seething with rage. "This is not what you were taught! Henceforward, you are _not_ to help your siblings!" he screamed. My fear was replaced with confusion. I wasn't to help my siblings? Why not? An alpha's duty was to the pack. And anyone was obligated to their family. My siblings fell under both. Why was I not to help? "You will leave them to succeed," he said in a fiercely low voice, staring at me. He then looked to Truth in disgust. "Or _fail_ on their own. Am I understood?" he asked, swiftly looking right back at me. I nodded, unable to do anything except for comply. He turned on his heels, and I saw that he was shaking, still in his state of fury. He had contained himself. That deviation from his reserved and cold nature was sample of how bad he could get. I shuddered at the thought of him losing his temper. I turned around, looking at Truth. Her eyes were large, and wet, and I immediately forgot the powerful reprimand I had just received, and tiptoed over to her.

"Don't believe that I'll just sit tight, and let you suffer," I whispered, for the fear that my father's keen ears would hear my assurance.

"Thank you, Harmony…" were Truth's words in reply. And on that day, I had gained an ally, a friend, a sister. I knew that she had not liked me at the very beginning, but this encounter drew us closer, and I could read her a little better afterward.

This cycle of teaching, failing to be taught, and me taking father's place kept going, though I was sure to teach my sister underneath his nose, because I didn't want to be yelled at again. For some children, yelling and screaming fails to rehabilitate their behavior, but with father, there was always an underlying message that he sent without words that if I were to mess up in that way again, he would not restrain himself to verbal abuse only.

Truth learned abnormally quickly. She had surpassed me in my language lessons when she was only eleven months old. I was five, and she was smarter than me! Five! It was when Truth had reached the six month mark that I had a tugging feeling in my gut. I couldn't place my finger on what was causing it. I wondered if it had been present before. My mind snapped back to all those months ago when I had gotten the scratch on my chest; which now had healed nicely, and made the subject of much attention from my peers in the following days. It was during the middle of an adrenaline filled attack, I figured at the time it happened when I was fighting, or was bursting at the seams with endorphins. But it didn't happen during the fight with Jacob, which had felt practically the same, except I wasn't trying to kill him. I wondered for a second if it had anything to do with the eggs. It had to; at the time that was the only logical explanation. That day I felt the tug was the day my little sister had been born.

I rushed over to her side with no hesitation or hindrance, seeing as how we had that day to relax. I roused her from her sleep, excited, bounding around her tiny form with excitement. "What do you want, Harmony?" she grumbled, ending in a squeaky yawn. "If I have the whole day to rest, I'm going to rest for the whole day."

"I think that another one of mama's eggs are going to hatch today." I said, making sure to put my muzzle right to her ear. Her ears flicked, and she rolled over onto her side, her eyes widened in surprise at how loud my voice was to her. Truth at this point probably assumed that I was not going to give up until she listened to my ridiculous reasoning, and she was completely right.

"One of her eggs? How are you sure of that?" she asked in a matter of fact know-it-all tone. She was a snobby pain in my behind alright, but she was still my sister. Time to time, I tried to spar with her. Father often mistook it for playing like regular pups, and he scolded us, saying we could not play, we had to train in our own ways, or rest during free time.

"Because, I knew when you were going to hatch." I retorted, reaching one of my (in comparison) heavy paws out, and smacking her right on the snout. Truth whined at me, and crossed her eyes, looking at her nose with concern, and a hint of irritation. She looked up at me, and I stepped back, in the direction of the chamber in our family's den where mother hid the eggs, and Truth knew what I had in mind. I led her there as if she didn't know the way, and we found ourselves before five of them. Just like before, they were identical in every way, but inside, I could feel them, and I knew their names. I walked around the mountain of dead grass mother kept the eggs in, looking for the right one. I had walked in a complete circle before I had found the one that I was looking for. Inside this one, it had felt different that when I had approached Truth's egg.

When I had approached Truth's egg, I felt that her presence was next, because it wasn't something that I felt when I went near any of the others. She radiated an aura of docility and calmness, and it cleared my mind when I went near it. It made me think of the color blue. This one however, was practically the opposite. My mind felt jumbled, there were many voices, and I had to step away before my mind was cast into total disarray. Like last time, I couldn't tell the gender immediately. And the name popped into mind, just as Truth's had. "Delirium."

"What?" Truth asked. I realized I had spoken this one's name aloud. "What does that have to do with this?" I looked over my shoulder at the smaller pooch, and I waved her over to me. She reluctantly sauntered in my direction, and I nudged her closer to the egg. She wore the same blank expression as she neared it, and continued to do so, even as her side was almost touching its brittle membrane. She didn't feel what I had felt. Maybe it was because I was the eldest? More experienced? What was it?

"This one's name is Delirium. I just know it. Just like I knew your name was going to be Truth." I replied, my smile returning, and I began to bounce on my toes again. My sister rolled her eyes at me, and stepped away from the egg before she could have the chance to fall in it and mess up my unborn sibling any further than he was going to be. I knew that there was going to be something different about them mentally.

"Okay then," Truth said in a doubtful tone. "And I assume that before you were born, you just so happened to know that your name was going to be Harmony?" she added sarcastically. I frowned at her snide attitude, and raised my paw to show that I would swat her on the muzzle again. Unfazed, she lunged forward, and engulfed the front of my snout in her own small muzzle. I whined slightly, and pulled back, leaving her grinning like the victor.

"So is that how you want to play?" I asked, crouching, and waving my rear end around like I was about to pounce on her.

"We should not play here…" Truth hissed quietly. "The eggs, remember?"

"Or at all, I guess," I pointed out, standing up straight. "Not unless we want father to launch into another lecture about how the alpha's children simply _must_ appear professional." I said, proceeding to emulate my father's tone and the few accents in his voice. Truth smiled at me, and she stepped back into the exit of the chamber. I scampered out, and stopped right next to her, briefly to compare our sizes. Physically, one didn't grow until their evolution. Truth was still several inches smaller than me. I would always be larger than her. The thought of that made me grin.

The remainder of the day was spent in anticipation of hearing one of mother's delighted shrill squeals, from the distance of my class. There were nine in my class, including myself. The others were Jacob and Lucy as mentioned before, as well as Vanessa, Dusk, Christian, Rosa, Cynthia- who happened to be the only houndour for miles around, and not one of my kind, and a timid boy named Alden. None of them really played a role of importance until I was a young adult when I look back on it, but at the time of this event, it seemed like it was the world to me. We were reciting our vocabulary as normal, this time with a new list of hellishly difficult words, like 'facetious', and 'hypocritical'. I didn't know what they meant, nor did I care to- I had just wanted to pass. I noticed that the instructor cast dirty glances at the elder when she said some of the words for us to repeat aloud. I made a mental note of that. I might have some dirt on her. The darkness of that thought confused me. Why would I need to blackmail my teacher? Better safe than sorry, another bit of me said. Why would I be sorry to begin with? She couldn't do anything. The instructor was an instructor because they lacked the physical capabilities to be among the others while hunting. Without a doubt she was stronger than me, but I was still only a pup. I had the excuse.

I digress. Christian had noticed my antsy nature that day. Was it the way that my eyes kept gliding in the direction of my home? Was it the inability to keep still? Was it the way I gnawed on the back of my paw when I got anxious? Was it the fact that I got a question wrong that day? It could have been any, all, or none of these, but he noticed that I was not normal that day to say in the least. He wasn't particularly friendly with me; but he wasn't friendly with anyone. There was no malice by any means, but one seeking kindness and comfort might have other choices first.

"Hey, Harmony. What's making you so antsy?" he asked bluntly, sauntering over to my side. I looked over my shoulder, and didn't reply, because I didn't feel the need to. It was a family matter, and he would have known soon enough. He got closer to me after several seconds, as if that was how long it took my disregard for his less than kind nature to set it. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" he said loudly in my ear. My ear leaned away, and my eyes narrowed with pain, and I turned my whole head to look at him. I stood up, and bared my teeth in a growl. I was larger than him. I was larger than almost all the pups.

"Be silent, imp." I said, just loud enough for me and him to hear. None of my other classmates needed to see this, or hear this. His loud words had attracted the stares of a couple, but I assume that they wanted to deny being witnesses, and turned their heads away in fear of consequence for failing to intervene. I was not afraid. As the best student, I always got off with a smack on the wrist, metaphorically. I had to run five miles into the unexplored and unclaimed territory, and then run back; which was significantly better in my book than the traditional nine. And as my father told me; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

"How dare you?" he hissed. "Ignore me, and then berate me? What a poor upbringing you've been given. Your idiot of a father must already have another child to replace you when you fail in your place as the alpha male." He sneered. Those words hit me close to home. Truth was too young for the public as deemed by our codes, so she was not permitted to leave the den, and her existence was only known of by the elders. For the split second, I thought; what if that's the reason for my sister's existence? To replace me when I fail? And the reason for Delirium's? For if Truth fails? A crippling feeling of insecurity rushed through me, and I faltered. I felt weak, and sad. And then I remembered who I was. And I was not a rug to walk on. That sadness and weakness became fury in its purest form, and I calmly stood up, and stepped closer to him, until our muzzles were almost touching. I've been told that my looks are okay, but something must have made me terrifying ugly, because something made each and every student turn around, and they call cringed and went o-mouthed at my expression.

"How dare you?" I repeated. It was barely above my breath, but the area of instruction had gotten so quiet, one could hear a single leaf fall. It was all I said. It was all I needed to say. I glared down at him, mustering the nastiest look I could make in addition to the one I was already making. His ears drooped, and he bowed down on his front legs, scooting backwards with a whimper like a bad dog. Oh, I was the alpha's child alright. "If you ever insult me…_or my family_..._ever again…_" I said in a whisper, making sure that I could leak every ounce of venom I could into him, making sure that my words were like knives in his plump and plush body. And I didn't finish the threat. I would leave his mind to wander what exactly I would do to him.

Not for the first time in my life, I felt accomplished. However, I did feel disgusting about it. This was not like me. I wanted to be friendly; I didn't want to be a crude old mange like my father. But, the anger remained. While I didn't feel totally proud, there would be no apology, and the threat would still stand. I would to this day, if I still lived there.

Class moved on with no event. There were almost no words to me. I guess that I had not just frightened Christian with my newfound dark nature, but the entirety of my class. There where hushed words among them of the incident, of varying views and reactions. I recall one of the conversations vividly.

"Did you see what Harmony did, Rosa?"

"Oh my goodness, _yes_! It's about time someone stood up to that idiot Christian!"

"You know, it just means that he's going to be meaner to us, because he can't be to Harmony, right?"

"Well, sure, but not unless you get close to him."

"Who'd want to get close to Christian? He's a jerk."

"Not him, Dusk. To Harmony!"

"And _how_ would you do that? He's a professionally introspective, and effectively antisocial."

"I don't know…make myself look a bit weaker, I think, so that Christian bugs me. And then, Harmony will step in, and save me!"

"I really doubt that. He's more likely to laugh at your weakness. He's from the alpha's family- so he must value strength."

"And so you think that being better than the rest of us will earn his eye?"

"I know so."

Now that was an interesting interaction. It also led to revolting amounts of flirting in later years. I didn't really like either of them. I had always thought they could take advice from Cynthia, and Lucy. For Dusk, Cynthia. I always thought Dusk could learn something from her because Dusk was too cocky and sure of herself, whereas Cynthia constantly humbled herself. For Rosa, Lucy, because Rosa was meager and a quim. Lucy was not really afraid of anything.

It was toward the end of the day, when we were about to be excused from our class that I finally heard the squeal. It came from the direction of my home. I knew exactly what had happened. I bounded on my toes, eager to be home. I got strange looks from my peers, but I didn't care. Sure, I was professional in my typical appearance, but I was allowed to be happy too! Looking on it, that probably wasn't the reason. At the exact time of the squeal, I had been sneaking up on Christian to deal him a blow to the head after I saw him bite someone's tail, and blame it on another, all the while a peer or so behind me watched. Noticing my eagerness, the instructor gladly dismissed me first.

I darted away from the instruction area; my feet had barely touched the ground by the time I was at the entrance to the den. I gracelessly slipped in dead leaves and dirt, and rolled inside, smacking into a wall. I was too excited to feel the pain of the impact. Getting right back up as if it hadn't happened, I kept running. I was greeted with the sight I had expected. Mother was holding yet another pooch in her arms, which suckled for her milk silently, curled into a ball over her belly. "It's Delirium," I said out of breath. Mother damn near had a heart attack. How she hadn't heard me run in eludes me to this day, but she didn't.

"Harmony! How- when…!" she grasped for the words. She shook her head with a sigh, and shook the pup around gently, so as to emphasize his presence but not wake him. "Yes, this is Delirium…I don't know how you guessed the name again, but…meet your new brother." She replied. I jumped. Yes! A brother! What a contrast he might be from the company of Truth. I couldn't say that I didn't enjoy having my sister around at all- she was fun to talk with, and shared my view on some things, whereas she opposed my view on many others. It made for discussions, debates, and arguments.

It was another month or so before anything of any interest happened further. Do you recall when I had said that Truth was not yet old enough to be introduced to the public? Well, the day finally came when she turned one year old, and we were preparing to introduce her to the rest of the clan. Delirium weaved under our feet, being inconvenient and annoying. But, one look into his big eyes, with the most (I shudder to say the word) cute look I will ever lay eyes on, all was forgiven.

Most of the day was spent grooming Truth, and telling her what to say in the event that she was asked a question. They had given me the duty of informing the eldest of the clan that my sister was of age, and we were going to present her today. When they sent me out to do it, I had hoped that I wouldn't have to go very far outside of my home, and that by some miracle, the old man would be there. I wondered why we had to get permission from the elders when we were the alpha's family, always the second in command. I told father that if we wanted to assemble the crowd, he should just do it. He gave me a single dirty look, and all that hope of taking charge was squashed without mercy beneath his pads.

I trotted out of the den, and looked about for him. When I didn't see the old man, I reasoned that he must have been in the elder's den.

The entirety of the clan's home was a hub of dens, each one leading to rooms for certain people and purposes. There was a den for the infants and their mothers, who left after one month, a den for the elders when they reached sixty years of age, the alpha's den, where I resided, and dens for varying classes of clan members- typically depending on species. We consisted of mainly the canines one might fear while exploring the wilderness. There were arcanine, houndoom, mightyena, absol, luxray, ninetales, and the occasional samurott. I often joked that we were founded as a clan with the express purpose of being the most generic band of species in existence. The others never did find it nearly as humorous as I did, but I never really did care what they thought. It didn't matter to me if they were amused or not.

We were all organized by class. Sometimes, there were challenges to rearrange the classes, but the mightyena almost always wound up on top. The most recent had happened the year of my birth, and we were still the alphas. Directly beneath us, were the water type family, and then the vulpines, followed by the houndooms, absol, arcanine, and at the dead bottom, were the omegas, the luxrays. Their kind was typically jeered for being felines, and it often earned jolts of sympathy from me. But, it didn't last for long. They were pretty despicable at times.

We were taught by class, we lived by class, we behaved by class, everything was dependent on class. Once again, I digress.

I poked my head inside of the elder's den, and I gently called the name of the oldest male, as was customary. When there was no reply, I repeated myself. "Judas. Juuuudas." I called.

The old man snuck up on me as if he had expertise in just that. I reminded myself of this old dog's age, and reasoned that he probably did. I nearly screamed in honesty, which probably would have shamed every mightyena in our clan, including the elder standing in front of me.

"Yes, Harmony?" he asked. I didn't expect his voice to sound the way it did. He made everyone's business his business, and often send the other elders to do his work. I had never personally heard him, and now that I did, I was surprised. His voice was not frail and warbling, but it was deep, gruff, and solid. I was surprised to say in the least.

"Er...Hello, Elder Judas. I've come to tell you that, um...my sister is of age to be introduced to the rest of the clan. My father wishes to do the induction ceremony today." I said nervously, suddenly finding myself meek in his presence. This dark type simply oozed the aura of authority, I didn't feel like the superior creature I was around my peers, I felt like I was a mere infant again. The old dog nodded, and stepped outside. With a booming voice, he instructed all of the people to gather around my den. My ears twitched, and folded in pain from the sudden loud sound. He then leaned to me, and in a quiet voice, instructed me to be on my way home, quicker than the others could. And so I ran home, gracefully tumbling into the wall of the den as usual, and then dashing inside.

"Mother, father!" I called. "The Elder Judas called the people! The induction is going to take place immediately!" I stumbled into the chamber in which Truth was, and I found that she had been groomed to a regal perfection. Her teeth had been cleaned, her claws looked sharper, her fur looked shiny and sleek, even her gaze had a different appearance about it. She scowled upon seeing me, and I could only grin to spite her. She ushered me out with a few rude words, and I found myself standing near the entrance. My mother and father were standing outside, and my mother turned her head, expecting to see Truth. She grumbled, and barked at me to get outside. I did, and I was awestruck with the sight.

Where there was typically calamity and chaos, I saw an assembly. The people in the clan were lined up by species, and they were all deathly silent. Not a word, not a whisper, not even a sideways glance to exchange a silent message. Father pulled me over to him, and silently instructed me to sit. So I did, and I waited. It only took me a couple of seconds to realize that I was waiting on Truth to make her appearance. Was that why she appeared to be so particularly abrasive at this moment?

When Truth stepped out of the den, I heard a collective gasp. I thought of the less than polite treatment I had received upon greeting her only a few minutes ago, and my adolescent mind ran rampant with vividly imagined scenarios of how I might have messed the whole thing up. Was it like a wedding, and was it bad luck? Was there something on her? Did mother and father forget to groom a certain part of her? Was she bleeding? Was she hurt? I couldn't find the answer to any of these questions. Mother and father stood on either side of the den's entrance, and I stood directly next to father, obediently staring straight ahead. What was wrong? I heard a voice from the crowd.

"Another son." someone said.

I giggled.

And then the ceremony fell to pieces.

* * *

(A/N: Okay, so, what do you think? I know, I went off topic a lot this first chapter. Maybe not the best of things to do, but I needed to get around to introducing things and such. I'll try and make the story more personal, more interaction rather than having our narrator summarize little events. But, I hope you like. I'm definitely gonna throw more planning into this one, instead of trying to wing it, or make it up as I go along. Been there, done that, not anymore. That's why I reset my account. Anyways.

I'd like to give yet another special thanks to my unoffcial beta reader, Mr.001. If you see an error...that's because he's unoffical. :P

Read, review, and above all, enjoy!

-TEK


	2. The Postulate Daughter

I took this chance to step out of line, and I looked at Truth, who wore an expression of absolute horror. She was not afraid by any means; rather she was horrified by what had just transpired. The look on her face, combined with my little giggle elicited a small laugh from the crowd. Like a virus, it spread, and soon the whole clan was guffawing before us. My heart sunk, and my throat clenched. She looked ready to cry. My father even had the hint of sympathy, and my mother looked positively furious. I wondered if my father mated her because of the hidden temper that looked like it was about to be revealed. She forced it down, and I found that I was disappointed. My father shut his eyes, and I could practically feel him groan, because I couldn't hear a thing over the laughing. What could they possibly be laughing about?!

_"BE SILENT!_" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I might have been small, but I guess that my voice carried. I shocked each and every one of the company into the state of quiet. They were as attentive as before; except they looked surprised. I looked to my parents. My mother nodded begrudgingly, and my father wore a twisted grin; he too, nodded at me. I looked back at Truth, who was on the verge of tears, and that provided all the fuel I needed to rant. "How dare you all!? What on _earth_ are you all laughing about? Don't you see that she's unhappy?" I shouted. Many people took sudden interest at the dirt stuck between their toes as I said the word 'she'. "That is my _sister_! A female! Do you all hear me?"

I went so far as to stomp my way over to the head of the crowd, to the oldest ninetales, who was cringing. In his eyes, was malice. I knew that he couldn't do anything to me. We stared at one another, and I stood on my toes to get closer to him, no matter how ineffective that might have been. "You! Will not! _LAUGH_!" If I could have gotten any louder, I would have made my own ears bleed. My throat hurt from the volume, and I hoped that their ears didn't feel any better.

"It's not _our_ fault the alpha fuck-ups bred a postulate daughter," someone sneered in the crowd. "Can you blame them for being humored?" No, we were not liked at all. I couldn't blame them. Our family was said to grow pompous and crude with the years, too strong. We were asked to secede from the competition to hold our place as the alphas once. They disliked that we rejected, we disliked their seemingly pointless reason to be angry. Relations between families suddenly got worse. Even the other mightyena families gave us funny looks. But this was over the line crude. It was normally cut eyes and foul words at one another, but there was no greater insult than this. My blood ran cold. Though I had never really seen it, I had this terrible feeling of what was going to happen. Father was about to lose his temper. My mother rushed in front of me, and ushered Truth and I inside the den, and I heard the battle commence. For the duration of the fight outside, I had spent my time trying to make Truth feel better about the induction ceremony.

"We didn't even get to the ceremony!" she cried.

"That's not what really matters, the others don't come because it's aesthetically pleasing." I pointed out, standing on my toes. She lied down on her belly, and buried her face in her forepaws.

"And what really matters happened, and they all laughed at me." She whined, her ears drooping sadly. I padded closer to her, and gently nudged her head with my snout.

"You know that father or I, mother, and even Delirium when he's old enough will all fight for you. I promise, you they will never laugh at you again." I responded, my chest swelling up with a curious sense of pride. That was right. I would protect her. I've protected her from father, why couldn't I do the same with the remainder of the clan. Truth looked up from her wet pillow paws, and blinked away the remaining moistness.

"An alpha's child shouldn't cry." She said in a shaky voice. I wasn't sure if I should have been concerned, or more proud. I knew that it wasn't totally healthy to hold back emotion, but it was good to know that she would try not to display her weaknesses like she just had. Before I could say anything more that probably would have completed the moment, and probably would have made my sister and I grow a little bit closer, Delirium padded into the chamber carelessly. I noticed that he was growing mentally at a slower rate than most children. At two weeks, the pups were typically capable of coherent speech, thoughts, and sentence formation, even if their vocabulary was basic. Delirium, at a month old had only just developed the ability.

"Brother, sister." He said in that same tone that always made him seem like he was up to something. He crawled in under my feet, under the illusion that he was small enough to do so without causing either of us discomfort. He was smaller than me like all of the others, but he was just a tad bigger than Truth was. I internally giggled at the thought of being in Truth's shoes, wondering why her sibling, only a month old, was larger than her.

"Hello, Delirium." Truth replied with a roll of her eyes. I looked down at the pooch between my legs, and was tempted to lay on him. I looked back up at my sister with a stupid large grin, and she shook her head, almost furiously. Throwing caution to the wind, I plopped right down on Delirium, who immediately proceeded to whine, wail, and roll until he managed to kick me off of him. I got right back up, and playfully pounced on him.

We continued to entertain ourselves in this matter, even dragging Truth into our playful scrap before the sounds of fighting from outside were extinguished with a victorious bellow from who I assumed was my father. He was strong, and competitive, and he hardly took losing lightly, even if it were a trivial matter. Father must have been fighting his hardest. I saw mother pass by the entrance to the chamber my siblings and I were in, and she barked a quiet order to quit playing in case father came back in.

And so he did, his head was held high, his chest was puffed out, and he looked just as regal as when he had stepped to begin his fight. His sides had taken a lot of the damage from what we could see, scratched crudely, and gouged, and there were a couple of smaller ones one his face, one went right over his eye. The scar over the eye was not an uncommon occurrence, often done by young adults who wish to appear formidable. I've heard it was the equivalent of humans piercing their flesh with metal rods and loops. It was most certainly more respectable however, when one earned it in real combat. It was easy to tell the difference. When one had it done intentionally, the cut was usually shallow, and neat, and small. When earned in a battle, it was rugged, and deep, the eye was sometimes red with the blood of a burst vein, and usually ran down onto one's snout, or jaw. I had wondered how a human would accidentally be stabbed with a metal loop, and why they would then leave it there. I assumed that I had the wrong perception of that scenario, but there was nothing to prove me otherwise.

"So…" my father said, almost awkwardly as he noticed my siblings and I were staring at him with curious o's for mouths. "I doubt that the vulpine class will be bothering us any time soon. And if they do…" he added ominously. His voice got lower, and we could only see his lips move. I couldn't understand what he said, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it was a death threat. Truth seemed to get the message. Delirium on the other hand, did not.

"What'll you do if they do, daddy?" he chirped.

I'm sorry, what did he just say?

Truth and I exchanged nervous glances. _Daddy_? None of us had addressed him by anything other than father. Mother only ever called him 'love', and the locals and elders called him by his title, the alpha. It dawned on me that I didn't know my mother's name, or my father's name. But never had I once heard him called a name as demeaning as 'daddy'. We looked back up to father, who was wearing the weirdest expression that I had ever seen. He looked like he was trying to be angry. He normally didn't have to try, he could be dead asleep (hardly a figure of speech, we literally have to yell to wake him up) - and he would still look like he was out for blood. Delirium had this constant (it still pains me to utter the word) adorable nature; and it was impossible to be angry at him in the least.

"Something not for your ears." Father said to the youngest. My lips curled upward in a grin. He looked to Truth and I again, and the look faded. He scowled at us, and then walked away, with mother over his shoulder, whispering, grinning, and congratulating him. My father wore a similar grin, and there was a visual change in his gait. My face scrunched up. Just disgusting. At this age, I knew what was coming. Truth remained to be oblivious however, to the very existence of copulation. That, however, would change as she explored the clan's area, and/or several weeks into classes.

When the sun crept below the horizon, and gave the moon its dominion, we grew tired. Truth and I typically had slept away from one another, but Delirium couldn't seem to get enough of physical contact. I guess that I was a heavy sleeper, because he rolled me over to Truth's side, and wriggled right in between us. It was the sound of his light snoring that roused me from sleep, and made it so that I could not go back. I sighed silently, and buried my face in my forepaws. I guess that I made noise without realizing it or meaning to, or the motion was enough to bug her, but Truth's voice rang out into the dark silence, quiet- but clear as ever.

"Hey, Harmony," she whispered. "Do you think that the other children are going to make fun of me during my public schooling?" she asked. I had to look over my shoulder to see her. We were laying side my side, but she was facing the opposite direction. It probably would have been simpler to stand, turn around, so that my head was next to hers, but I did not want to risk a whining Delirium. I thought about her question for a minute or so.

"Yes," I replied truthfully. "I do. But, you can count on the fact that they will not for long. They respect me, sometimes they even revere me…I am not totally in favor of the fondness the others display, but most will do as I say. If I say they will be kind to you, then they will." I said, smiling slightly. Truth shook her head with a quiet groan.

"I don't want you to protect me, though." She responded. My smile fell. That was hardly the response I anticipated. I had hoped that she might comment about me being the greatest sibling there was, but to my mild disappointment, that didn't happen. I had a feeling she might never say that, try as I might. "I want to earn their respect on my own. I've excelled in my private schooling. Public schooling should not be any different."

"If you want to impress them, you can always stumble around, and talk their ears off." I said nonchalantly. Truth's tail swung, and batted me across my snout. I would have done the same, but Delirium's face was next to Truth's. Those damn pooches were going to be a pain in my side, especially if they worked together…"Real mature," I grumbled sarcastically.

"You act like a pup," she huffed indignantly.

"And you _are_ a pup." I said in the same tone. Wow, neither of us sounded mature at all. For a second, I grabbed onto that feeling of immaturity. It felt so nice…For this moment, we were carefree. There were no eyes to watch us for faults, except our own. In this dead of night, we could do as we so pleased. It was not nice not to worry about expectations, not to have to remain professional, to act how we so desired. The maturity father had us display was a bit of a façade, and if one lies enough, they believe their own lies.

Truth's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Are you okay? Can you even hear me, brother?" she asked, hissing into my ear. She had rotated so that she was facing the same way as I. What a wake up for little Delirium, to have his face mashed between our ass cheeks.

"I can hear you fine," I lied, seeing as how I managed to tune out whatever it was she had just said. It seemed that I was bad at lying, because my sister only rolled her eyes in response, and looked straight ahead.

"I said that we should sleep, Harmony." Truth grumbled. She then turned on a slightly giddy face. "I anticipate tomorrow."

* * *

I found that the age difference between Truth and I was too great, and we were not allowed to be in the same class. If she had been a few weeks older, I would have been able to watch over her. I argued with the instructor that she was more than capable of working with students of our caliber, and that she might even find Truth to be her star student. The instructor hovered over me, and growled that I hadn't the slightest clue what I was talking about. I guess that in a way, both of us were in the dark in the situation. Me, because I didn't actually know how Truth would do around my class. And her, because she didn't know what Truth could do.

Time became a viscous slop, and the day dragged on like a slowbro. I hardly paid attention to my work, it was easy anyways. I considered telling the instructor things were getting too easy, but I had the feeling there would be a heavy generalization about my family's nature if I were to indirectly say 'the other students are too damn stupid, I want to be around people that don't injure my brain cell count'.

That day, I learned about the existence of math. I had never thought of using numbers, because they were never important. I found that they were useful, and applicable to almost everything. The instructor told us, after she told us the most basic functions of math that since we were the alpha class, only strength was important, and we would not be learning about it. To make an example, the instructor chose me of all people. She gave me a list of numbers in a random order, and asked me how many siblings I had. I gulped, preparing to look like an idiot, because I knew that I would get it wrong.

"Nine?" I had asked. Looking back on the memory, it was pretty funny. Of course I learned proper math in later years, but back then, you may as well have asked me to take down a tauros on my own. The instructor patted my head, and sent me back to my designated seat in the dirt. She launched into a lecture about how numbers were not a necessity for the alpha class. She told us that so long as we killed enough things, we would probably have enough food to feed the clan. Something about that felt terribly wrong. My father was not stupid in the least; that was a terrible underestimation that people often made when meeting him for the first time. I made a mental note to ask father about numbers later on in the day, so that I might have an advantage on the other students.

When the end of the day came around, I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder at Truth's class, filled with young pooches ready for an exciting day of learning. I almost snickered aloud. Did I really just think that? She was in for a surprise, or disappointment depending how one looks at it, when she found that school got repetitive, and that not every day was some miraculous adventure with new twists, turns, etcetera. The instructor then assigned us homework. That was an almost alien word to me. She asked us to go home, and ask for the quantities of things in the home. We were to remember those quantities. She said that if we found them to be important, we would begin arithmetic. If not, we would resume the usual lessons in words and hunting methods. I couldn't wait for my next coming of age. When I turned six, I would begin learning moves.

I found myself shuffling leisurely over to Truth's class upon dismissal, and found that they were still stuck listening to their instructor drone on about the importance of learning words. This instructor's tone was bland, and filled with false enthusiasm, but it seemed to do the trick, because each and every tyke in there was bouncing with excitement. I had also failed to notice that this instructor was an absol. Strange, seeing as it was normally mightyena, samurott, and ninetales. He gave me a brief look that was crying for help, and then looked back to the class, and resumed talking. In a few minutes he was done, and gave the traditional nod of his head to tell them that class was over. The small ones became unruly, and ran everywhere, like they had never been disciplined a day in their lives.

With the exception (and with some pride from me) of Truth. She looked about confusedly, and wondered what was going on. She sat still for a few more seconds, before she called for the instructor, and asked what they were doing now.

"We're going home. To do things we enjoy, as opposed to this." He said curtly. The look on Truth's face was sad, but at the time, it could not have been more humorous. Stifling another gale of laughter to save her the embarrassment, I stepped over to my sister's side, and nudged her silently. She squeaked like a mouse, and rolled onto her side in the state of surprise. She got up onto all fours, and looked at me with a hint of anger, and then it was abruptly replaced with excitement. I remembered my first day of school. And how afterwards, I wanted mother and father to know everything about it…aw, shit.

She began to talk me ear off, at a mile a minute about how exciting this was, and how much she loved school. I probably could have recited every word exchanged between me, my peers, and the instructor in the time that she went on paraphrasing every single solitary event of that day. I could practically feel my brain tightening the noose, praying for all of the intake to end. I began the walk back home, planning to lead Truth directly to mother and father so as to spare myself from the barrage of words. Hell, they still had four eggs left to hatch. That was four more siblings, and six times all the hell I would ever put them through. I grinned at the idea of making my parents relatively miserable.

When we stepped inside the den, I shut Truth up by asking her if she wanted to tell mother or father about her day- but how she had to start from the beginning. Obliging immediately, the excited pup bounded into the den, shouting for our parents. I smiled, and crawled to the chamber that I could call mine, and Delirium was asleep on the ground. I found myself on the wall opposite to him, my eyes half shut.

The following day, after school, was nothing like the first.

In three days, the word of Truth's status as a needless excess had spread across the clan like a deadly virus, and my poor sister caught hell for it wherever she went. I found her standing just outside the area of instruction, bawling as the small crowd of schoolchildren around her called her names, and asked some pretty mean things. I almost resorted to some very impolite and vulgar words that father taught me, but refrained for now, for the sake of remaining above these little cretins. Instead, I chose to give a loud but low growl, walking close and close to the others, until they turned around, and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Leave, or else." I barked. They left eagerly.

I figured that was what it felt like to be an alpha male. My word was law. Looking back on it now, that was a stupid thing to cross my mind. Sort of wish that I could go back, and strangle my young self. I was a bit of a pompous brat, but I did my best. Not caring if we were supposed to appear hard, the brutal children of a brutal male, I stepped up to Truth, and I nuzzled the top of her head with a sigh.

"I-I don't like school much anymore." She whispered shakily. The sadness in her voice could have broken me into little pieces right there. It was all I could do not to blubber in her ears, and start attacking a bunch of one year olds. I so desperately wanted to see the giddy and excited child that was present yesterday, the one that greeted her education with wide open arms. That was how I learned to detest little brats like that. The best instructor in the world couldn't fully make one understand how to properly despise mean small children.

I walked side by side with Truth, our fur brushing as we headed home. My face was contorted into a scowl, and my walk was stiff. Every now and then, a brat would wander near, and I would give them the dirtiest look I possibly could. It worked in all cases save for one, in which a particularly snobbish looking one sauntered carelessly over to Truth and I, and obstructed our path. She wasn't even from our class, it was growlithe. Only above the omegas they were, and yet one had the nerve to come here and speak ill of Truth. We easily could have gone around her, but then she probably would have served as an obstruction to any other who crossed her path.

"So, the alpha's gem, and the family's shame." She said in a sing-song voice. "My father told me that your family's full of cheaters and liars and mean people. My mother says that the new one is proof that your legacy's phony."

I couldn't even comprehend why everyone was being so crude toward my sister. She had done nothing to them, any of them! She showed her face in public, and was immediately the laughingstock of the clan. I remembered a bit of advice my father gave me. Go below the belt, he said. I had no idea what I belt was, but I assumed that it meant 'don't play clean'. So, I wondered how to be as personal as possible. And then it came to mind.

"My father told me that your father begged for his mercy while they competed for title of the alpha." I spat. "That your family is full of weaklings, and inbred abominations."

Was that too much? I didn't think so. There wasn't a doubt that I could have halted at my first sentence, and had the desired effect, but I didn't appreciate her attitude toward my sister in the least. It was then that it dawned on me that I was very protective of her, and I would be in the future. A small part of me wondered if that would play a role in my downfall, but for the time being, it was best that I did as I was doing. If there were any consequences, I think that I had a fairly soft bed to land on. The growlithe girl looked furious with me, and stepped in my face. I scowled back.

"Are you inbred?" I inquired innocently.

* * *

I woke up with a cold sensation on my head. Probably a bag of ice.

I had underestimated the growlithe girl by far. There was a pounding in my head, each wave of pain served to humble me, and remind me that lines existed for the express purpose not to be crossed. I guess that I had done just that, and wound up here.

In layman's terms, the growlithe girl hit the shit out of me, and took out my lights when she did.

I tried to sit up, but found that I was lying on my belly. I opened my eyes, and the flood of light was more painful than light should be. I was in the medical den, and there was nobody in there except for me, at first blush. My head swiveled, and I spotted another pooch in the room. It took several minutes for my head (and my vision) to clear, and I saw that Truth was lying in the room with me. I wondered what had happened. I assumed that after I got knocked out, either my sister fell victim to the same rage, or she totally lost it, and unleashed her wrath on the growlithe. I suddenly wished that I had remained conscious long enough to witness that.

Timid Truth, who had struggled with walking, going ballistic, and launching into a yowling frenzy. I exhaled through my nose in a slight bliss at the thought, and then inhaled again, feeling a bit too lazy to do so through my mouth. I smelled something. A scent, familiar to no end, but it was driving me crazy, I couldn't lay my finger on what it was. It smelled a bit like me…

Oh, shit. Father was here. I had overlooked him.

"You know." He said, his deep voice penetrating the silence, and then crushing it to bits. "Fighting is not for sport. Fighting is not for fun. Fighting is not done for the sake of fighting. It should be reserved for survival. There is not another problem out there that can't be solved with words, Harmony. I'm going to let you know the very same thing that I told your sister." With that, I suddenly felt his hot breath on my back, and I rolled to a belly up position in a jolt of fear, finding myself inches from his face, gazing into his huge and menacing yellow eyes. "If you ever fight someone unless they're trying to kill you, or you're trying to feed your family, I will find you, no matter how young or old, and throw you in a hole so deep you won't know left from right and up from down."

There was no follow up. Do you understand, do I make myself clear, will you ever do this again, none of that. The threat was simple enough. He would be the end of me. I could only fearfully nod in hope that his ever menacing eyes would turn away from me. One couldn't imagine the relief that ran through me when he did turn sighed, and stepped to the exit of the medical den, stopping briefly to look over his shoulder at Truth and I. He cast both of us a look that I didn't know, and to this day, still can't figure out. There was a hint of sympathy, but the rest was obscure.

Truth and I were released a couple of days later, and I could not have been more furious. The clan was relatively large, with about one hundred and fifty members. However, word spread like wildfire of how a growlithe had subdued the alpha's prized boy. That was easily the most infuriating thing I had ever heard. I was a short tempered one, quick to talk, quick to take action, never taking the extra second or two to think about the consequences. Hearing this made me want to find that growlithe girl and maul her; being pointed and laughed at on the way home was hardly helping. But I noticed that nobody had spoken a word about Truth. The jeering intensified when she walked by, and I was left to wonder what exactly had happened. It was all that I could do not to have a repeat of that event.

When we arrived home, we were greeted with a stoic as usual father, and mother who was bursting at the seams with worry and glee, and an excited and curious Delirium. He innocently asked if we had gone somewhere special, and if so, if we brought him anything back. I playfully responded that I could send him there if he wanted, and Truth bit me. I told her I could send her there too, and then Delirium bit me. I cast a gaze to my mother asking for help; but instead, she turned away with a twinkle in her eye, leaving me subject to the torment of my little brother and sister.

With time, it became obvious that Delirium was challenged in some sort of way. He didn't excel in his schooling like Truth or I, in fact, he struggled. His hunting was average, despite his many exclusive lessons, and he matured at a very slow rate. He was innocent, and he always meant well, and what he lacked in academic or physical strength, he made up for in his very strong code of morals. It was still rather difficult to take the pooch seriously, but he had a heart of gold, and we all knew it. In this way, it made father partial to him. On the subject of father, I found myself wondering if he suffered from some sort of malady, or head injury. He too, fell victim to the ravages of time. He became more irritable, violent, and more difficult to please, on occasion, forgetful even. It was at the point where none of us wanted to invoke his temper, and strode to the best of our abilities to keep him happy. He did have a bit of a soft spot for my brother however, he seemed to realize that Delirium lacked a certain element to perform as well as we did, and was easier on him. Mother grew reclusive, afraid when he drew near, instead of rushing to his side, and embracing him, and smothering him with bittersweet love. She would only begrudgingly let father near, all of this change was frightening to me.

But the only thing constant in the world was change.

I learned that from the head elder, Judas. Few months had passed, and I had noticed that the other children were reckless and did things that I could consider to be unwise and unintelligent. Judas pulled me away from instruction time one day, and told me that I stood out from the other students, told me that I was smarter, and that I could much easier learn his teachings. This excited me to a degree. Any person who's been a victim to school's time-consuming wrath would not want any other classes to take up their precious free time. On the other hand, the lead of the clan himself was offering to teach me. From the sound of it, I would never learn what he had to give me in school. Wisdom, he said. He would teach me things that we all knew in the back of our minds, simple sayings, simple discussions that would enlighten me. How couldn't I agree? After all, being the alpha male took more brain than anything.

I saw the elder Judas every day after instruction and in the afternoon on our free days. Sometimes, it would take me days to get what he was trying to show me, sometimes I could get it in a quick minute. And, as time would pass, I found that I grew more aware. I looked at things a little bit differently. I couldn't quite describe how exactly it differed from my perspective prior, but it felt different, weird. I just felt more conscious of things. I had to admit, it was a really good feeling.

I didn't tell father what I was doing with Judas in dear of his disapproval. He had been opposed to things that I thought were going to help me in the past, and always in his words would tell me 'such is not a necessity to an alpha male'. My father was not unwise by many means, however, his words and philosophies sometimes astounded me. How was I to know if he would forbid me from being taught by Judas or not? So, I instead told him that after school each day, I was going to a secluded spot beyond the borders of the clan's territory to clear my mind of clutter and distractions. I could see him struggling to find a reason to forbid me from doing so, but evidently, he couldn't think of a single reason. In the event of a predator, foreign pokemon would always assume that a big fearsome mightyena would be near when they saw me, and would decide not to try anything. I had once tested this little tidbit of information by following a zangoose for a way. The stepped hastily to avoid me, and when I raced by them, the look on their face as the lost their balance in shock was easily one of the funniest things that I had ever seen.

A few weeks had passed, and I turned six years old.

I moved up a level in education like all did when they reached a new age, and I could not have been more excited. I was going to learn how to use moves. I was going to learn how to fight properly for the first time! The memory of father's warning about fighting flashed through my head, and I was then uneasy about learning how to use moves. It would be different if it were a class, right? I would be learning, not doing it just for the sake of doing it.

I stood next to the entrance of our den, my feet felt like they were strapped to the ground. I was nervous about this. I was not nervous a lot, seeing as how I never really had a reason to be. Others got out of my way, no matter the size or stature, I was always sure of what I wanted to do (probably because I only started thinking about what would happen in the long run when I was an adult), and I was never in doubt of myself, and if I was in over my head, I would just accept it, and try my best anyways. But this was different. There was only one thing on the planet that intimidated me, and that was my father. I feared his wrath as I took my first step outside, and I began to make my way toward my new class. What was I in for? I got strange looks from the older boys and girls. Some I knew, most I did not. That would change within a few weeks however. When those few weeks passed, I would be around all of my classmates once more.

On the subject of school, Truth leaped ahead two years with special permission from the elders that same day. One could imagine the surprise on the faces of the three year old group when a young one who had barely been inducted into the village joined them, and was more than able to keep up with them in academics. I couldn't help but feel a bit proud, even if I had absolutely nothing to do with her natural aptitude for intellect.

As I stepped into the area of instruction, there came some friendly smiles, and some unfriendly looks. I didn't know everyone, but everyone knew me. Mightyena were the alpha class, and the alpha male had a 'prodigal son'. I didn't know what it meant at that time, but if I did, there was no doubt my head would have swollen a hundred times over. I was popular with some, infamous with others.

"Well, would you look at huge Harmony." Said Hiram, an old friend of mine. Sometimes on free days, I would wander off, and one day, I crossed paths with Hiram. We spent time together, and talked, I considered him close to me. I also hated that nickname he gave me, and he knew it. Hiram was one of the few poochyena larger than me, and he taunted me for it every time I saw him.

"Good morning, Hiram," I replied, suppressing a smile. Sure, I may not have liked it, but I hardly help but grin when he called me such.

"So, you've made it up here with the big boys. I can hardly wait until the instructor pairs me with you, and I finally get to bite you. I'm going to bite you _right on the face_, Harmony." He joked. He looked menacing, but in his eyes, was the constant glint of humor. He couldn't take a thing seriously. Not even when his mother passed did he go the day without satire.

"Oh, please." I replied snidely. "I'd have my teeth on your neck before you could open your jaws."

"Your jaws couldn't fit around my neck," he huffed.

We shared a quiet laugh, and resumed socializing until the time for instruction began. It begun like any other class, with the instructor finally realizing that we should have begun several minutes ago, and hastily hopping to their feet to avoid their job termination. The new instructor began speaking, launching into the subject of the energy in our bodies. At first, it seemed pointless. I already knew that there was energy inside of me, why in the world would I need a recap? Of course, it was utterly disrespectful not to listen, so I did. The instructor then told us that there were several techniques for harnessing this energy, and that each pokemon could do something a little different with it. He went into detail about one of these techniques. As luck would have it, I managed to tune out the part where he said the method was purely hypothetical.

I could feel every last drop of energy rushing through me. It felt just like when a person cuts off the circulation to say, a hand, and suddenly lets the blood flow back in. I tried my best to be discreet about this, hoping that my body didn't start to glow like a body part might when one charged their energy for a move. That would be terribly embarrassing, as well as misleading. Of course, nothing was that simple. Did I begin glowing? No. But, was I discreet in the long run? The answer to that is an even bigger 'no'. See, I had to focus to keep my energy flowing, otherwise it felt…violent. Like I shouldn't let it out. I didn't know how to force it back into its original spot, so I was stuck harnessing it.

The instructor called my name, and shattered my focus. I looked up at him, blinking, trying my best to look innocent. Suddenly, the energy was gone. That wasn't good, at all. A sudden nausea overtook me, and a tiredness, too. The nausea went within a few seconds, but I still felt rather weary. The instructor cast an angry gaze down at me, and I shrunk back a little bit to reduce the feeling of that unfriendly glare as much as possible. However, it was inescapable.

"I asked," he said, baring his teeth in a scowl, seeing as how he wasn't allowed to do any more than that. Father told me there was a time when instructors could lay their paws on the children, but he changed that when he became the alpha. "How does one properly release the energy they gather? Were you even paying attention?" I looked around me, and found that all of the other students were staring, and laughing quietly at me. I suddenly felt very embarrassed, and I clenched my jaw shut. This was not a good impression at all. "Well!?" the instructor demanded. I turned my head back to him, and my ears drooped. And I opened my mouth to speak.

And then, I found out where all of the energy went.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so here's the second chapter. Out fairly quick, already about halfway through the third. Or, at least I was. I lost the flash drive with the story on it, and it makes me want to **repeated facedesking** that. I hope that y'all like this so far, so far I'm having fun writing this. Still can't decide if it's fun because I geniunely enjoy this, or because I'm using it as an excuse to put off English projects...

**Harmony**: Oh god, please not this one.  
**Truth**: Heh, I remember this little tale.  
**Harmony**: I hate you. All of you. It's a good thing I didn't learn to read.  
**Delirium**: _EXPECT ARSON!  
_**TEK**: ...what did we talk about? I explicitly stated not to threaten the readers with arson. This is why nobody likes you.  
**Delirium**: D:

Read, review, and above all, enjoy!


	3. The Insane Boy

To be frank, and seeing as how there are little ways of saying it any better, let me tell you exactly what happened, crude as it may sound.

My face exploded.

The energy I had been gathering decided to come to my mouth for some god forsaken reason, and resided there, dormant, and waiting. I had been so disorientend that I wondered if energy was actually some sort of sentient creature, and if so, why was it such a trickster? If it was, I would have to admit, it was a good joke, but a little over the top. Well, a little over the top was an understatement. The initail explosion had shocked me to the point that I didn't have time to register that I was going to feel pain, I was immediately trying to figure out why in the world my mouth exploded. Of course, I was too panicked at the time to come up with a good answer to that.

Anyways, the damage wasn't nearly as severe as one would have hoped, even if it did nearly result in a fatality. First and foremost, my entire mouth was scorched. And there's one thing I learned about medicine yesterday- it's not meant to please anything asthetically. With no time to waste, the medic slapped a dollop of burn cream on my tongue. Sure, its base was rawst, but it was easily the most revolting thing I had had the displeasure of tasting. On the contrary, it was soothing. The medic promised that she would grind some mint leaves into the salve next time. Next on the list, the force of the explosion tore three teeth out of my gums, from the roots.

When I asked what happened to them, if they found them, the medic gave an uneasy smile. While those were the only injuries that I sustained, I nearly killed the instructor. The explosion burned his face- not as severely as my mouth, but it was still looking bad. All of my that fell out had become shrapnel, and broke flesh thrice. The first tooth buried itself in the instructor's neck, dangerously close to the corodid, as the medic put it. The second went up the middle of his ear from the base, and sliced it clean in two halves, one of which dangled off of the side of his head. The third, ironically, flew into _his_ mouth, and cut a groove into the right side of his jaw, then proceeding to crawl out of his cheek, and turn into dust as it hit a boulder behind the intruction area.

I spent four days in the medical den, most of which consisted of me napping and waiting for a new bit of the burn cream to slather around in my mouth. I didn't get to eat, which was driving me batshit crazy. I wanted to ask about what I could and couldn't eat, to see if there was any sort of hoop I could jump through, or maybe get them to pour it straight down my throat. I didn't even want the satisfaction of chewing, I just wanted something in my stomach. But, I couldn't talk. If I tried, it would come out in sputters, and pain my entire mouth.

Also to my dismay, two old 'friends' of mine, named Dusk and Rosa came to visit me often. You might remember that I mentioned them in an event at school, and how I said it led to years of fruitless flirting. I will admit just once, however, that I did experience an attraction to Dusk. Over years, she grew to be quite beautiful, and she was not afraid to demonstrate the power she attained- and she had something between her ears to boot. Her voice was unnaturally soothing, and she had the perfect balance of playfulness and maturity. Nearly every male in our age group was after her. Certainly more appealing than Rosa, who went out of her way to appear pitiful. However, romance was not within my interests, and she was a complete nuisance. I often thanked Arceus he didn't curse me with the burden of infatuation. She offered me some comfort however, at least I was not bored.

The first day she came in was the only day she looked genuinely worried, and looked like my interests were in her mind. I was mildly surprised to see her. I should not have been surprised that she would kick aside her schedule to pay me a visit, but on the other hand, I wondered what she might have to offer me. The answer to that was affection. Lots of it, she smothered me. I hated it, really. She also told me things of mild significance that were going on outside the medical den. I remember of how she told me what the clan thought of my little misadventure.

"You know, rumors always creep around," she said, having gotten off the subject of my mouth after nearly half an hour. "And this one is no exception. I hear from one person you were trying to kill the instructor, and I hear from another that you were trying to kill _yourself_. Some say you were trying to use bite, and it blew up in your face. No matter the case, everyone does agree on one thing. _You failed_."

Well, what a way to make me feel better, Dusk. Now, tell me the story about how I got knocked out by that growlithe? Or maybe the time I got ganged up on by rattata- and no, I'm not going to tell that one, no matter how much the author pleads. If all of you want to know so bad, tough titties.

I cast Dusk a condescending glare, and the sly look she had on became somewhat uneasy. "I-I on the other hand, am not sure what happened. Can you tell me?" she inquired. I opened my mouth slightly for her to be able to see inside, and I noticed her cringe. I knew that she knew that my mouth had been burnt, but she did not know to what degree. Second, to be precise. "Owie," she commented, and I shut my mouth, allowing myself to look at her fully. The remainder of her visit was spent in quiet, and I found myself uncomfortably close to her. I tried to shover her off, but she managed to press my arms and legs against me in a way that any push was practically nonexistent. I didn't even let Truth this close to me. I almost attempted to bite her, but that wasn't going to happen.

For a split second, I considered self destructing again, but I realized that was a terrible idea in every aspect. In fact, I didn't think that I had a worse idea in my entire life. Well, actually, just one worse idea, but that's aside the point as of now. I then wondered what was happening with Truth and Delirium. Dusk didn't possess the courtesy to update me on my siblings, and I didn't have a way of asking her how. When dusk began creeping from the east horizon, Dusk bid me an affectionate goodbye. There was a glee about her, probably feeling simple delight from the fact that I didn't tell her to go eat rocks and roll down a hill. And when she was gone, I sighed through my nose, and laid my head down to sleep.

I experienced a nightmare.

With the legends surrounding Darkrai, every pokemon was highly supersitious about nightmares. They happened very rarely- the subject had once been brought up to the elder, who claimed that only three times had he ever experienced a bad dream. It was said that they were precognitive aid; cautions if you will, warnings. My dream annoyingly unclear, and it filled me with a fury, even in the state of slumber.

I saw myself sitting in the center of a line of seven, me being the only mightyena. Imagine that- I was a mightyena! I knew I'd be disappointed to wake and find that I was still a mere poochyena. Anyways, the image of myself looked to the left, and a mightyena sprouted beside me. I looked to the right, and the same thing happened. I assumed they were Truth and Delirium. But who were these other four pooches? Of course, I would learn that with time. Suddenly, the one on my left crumpled, and began oozing red from an invisible wound. The pooch standing next to the new mightyena on my right did the same thing. I was startled- to say in the least. Then around me, there was a low laugh- but it was not of humor. It was...demented. Then it sped up, as if the owner of the voice had truly gone insane.

I jolted awake, my body so tense I could hardly move. What did that mean? Was I going to lose them? Were they going to die? Be injured? Would I be able to do anything? I wanted to think on the matter more, trying to make sense of it. Questions swirled in my head like a windstorm, and I only had the peace for several minutes before the other bane of my existence came with the express purpose to be parasitic and inconvenience me as much as humanly possible.

Rosa was _her _name. While I didn't like either of them, I would have picked Dusk over Rosa any day of the year. She, too, had matured into a nice young lady, she was more or less visually pleasing, but it was her personality, and her voice, oh how ungodly her voice was. One might expect a young girl to have a squeaky voice, and with time get a bid deeper, and smoother. Well, this wasn't totally the case. Her voice grew to be nasally, and didn't drop a single note. She for some reason felt the need to be louder. I, for some reason, felt the need to rename her something like 'Becca'. Her attitude and personality was more appalling, if that was possible. She was flirty- and she was bad at flirting- with most males in my class. I often wondered if it was meant to be a jealousy tactic, or if she was really that desperate- but whatever kept her off of me was more than welcome. She was under the illusion that she was smarter than most people, when she had managed to prove time and time again that her knowledge was limited at a cringe-worthy level. And she liked to be helpless. That was the worst thing, in my opinion. I think that at some point or another, we've all met someone who likes to pretend like they can't do a thing for themselves, and it's an utterly despicable trait.

Anyways, she strutted in, and I felt immediately that I was in for a day of living hell. Why wasn't Truth visiting? If these two were finding time, why couldn't she? Hell, the schedule for the young ones was looser than ours was. And my usually worried mother? Was father restricting them? Rosa cut my thoughts short by stopping half a foot or so directly before my face, and throwing what I assumed was her attempt at a seductive smile to me. "Hey, it's Harmony," she said playfully. I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned. "I heard that you got into a fight with your instructor. We all know that he nearly died, so most everyone thinks you're the victor." she announced, circling around the bed I lied in.

This was interesting. According to Dusk, everyone thought I failed. According to Rosa, everyone thought that I won. Either way, they were both incorrect.

"Would you tell me about what happened?" she said, her tone turning wry. I shook my head. "Please?" she asked again. I again shook my head no. She wasn't stupid, not by any means- that was easy to see, however, sometimes she liked to empty her head and float around. "Why not?" she prodded, moving to sit right next to me, and nudged my side.

I 'nudged' her back, and sent her sprawling onto the floor of the den. She got up, shakily, sporting a hurt look. I felt the edges of my mouth curl up in a cruel smile, and I didn't feel a drop of remorse or guilt for it at the time. When I look back on it, I realized that I was a terrible child- there was no way to hide that, I was bratty, narcissitic, and thought that I was entitled to boss people around and do as I so wished. I digress. I sent Rosa a silent message with my gaze, one that implored her to get up and leave me be- at least wait until I could insult her some more until she got back to bugging me. And then, as if it had not fazed her in the least (which it hadn't, or at least I think), Rosa stood up, and trotted back over to me.

Fury.

And so that day dragged by painfully slow, and words could not possibly describe my elation when she announced that she had to leave.

The following day passed without event, and I thanked whoever may have been watching my suffering and had the mercy to let it end. If that wasn't the case, I also muttered a quiet thank you to their parents, who were more likely the ones to prevent the two from even coming near me. At the end of the day, the nurse in the medical den told me that I was healed enough to be on my way, and that I would be good for eating- but to stay away from any food to tough for now, seeing as how my tongue would be tender, and easily hurt. Upon arriving home, I was greeted with several different reactions. Mother bounded over to me, and wrapped me in an embrace, expressing with ample words and little detail how much her boy was missed. Father gave me a curt little nod, and I could have sworn that I saw him smile- if he was happy, it was probably because he had a bad history with my instructor. Truth and Delirium were as riled up as pups could be, and I had barely stepped into our sleeping chamber to greet them when I was leaped on from behind by Delirium, and I found myself stumbling to support his weight. And on a certain off balance step, Truth bounded out of hell, and leaped on me from the side, effectively burying me under the two, and smothering me in a mass of fur.

I didn't typically like the contact, but I couldn't say that I particularly minded that time. These were, my siblings after all.

On the subject of my siblings, Delirium displayed a very concerning behavior. We knew that he was not going to grow as fast as the others, and it didn't take a doctor to determine that there was something wrong with him mentally, but the things he began doing were questionable, even if not especially for him. I first noticed the new display a few days after getting out of the medical den, and I had returned home from school thay day; for the first time in a very long time, I was brimming with excitement at what the instructors had to offer me. I couldn't wait to show off to the young pair. Was I going to be able to? No, not for a long while.

Upon entering the den, I found that it was quieter than normal, it was normally alive with the noises of my siblings bugging mother for something to do, or to eat. I sort of hoped that I hadn't acted like that when I was a pup. As I stepped further inside, a bad feeling loomed over me, and I found that feeling muffling and slowing my steps, as if I needed to be cautious in my own residence. When I entered the chamber reserved for Delirium, Truth and I, I was greeted with an uncanny sight to say in the least. Truth was huddled up against the wall, sleeping, and her expression was somewhat troubled. I could hardly believe that- she was always bursting at the seams with energy. Why the sudden tiredness? And then Delirium, was huddled up against the opposite wall, but he was not asleep, in fact, he was the only source of noise in the den. I stepped closer to him, and he seemed to remain oblivious to my presence, which had for some reason come to cause me dismay. He was speaking something, it was very rapid, and quiet, and I couldn't distinguish one word from the next. Even when I found myself but a few inches from him, he was still unintelligible. But, the tone was competely unmistakeable. Delirium was _arguing _with himself.

I stepped away from him, and a feeling of concern overwhelmed me, and I found myself in the presence of a decision. Should I step away, let him continue attacking himself verbally, time after time? What if he started to attack himself physically? What if he begun to do it loudly? Delirium hadn't been inducted into the common collective of the clan yet, and wouldn't be for another ten or so months. It pained me to say, but Truth brought down the family's reputation quite a lot, and a seemingly insane son would do little to help our cause. And then the other choice- what if I intervened? What if Delirium attacked me? There would be no way that I could attack him back. I just couldn't bring myself to do that sort of thing. I didn't mind the other kids my age, I didn't mind total strangers, I would even less mind my father, and I would sooner attack all of them before I would ever raise a hand in malice to one of my siblings. Even in the future, when I would be in the presence of six of them, would this be true. And again, the thought beckoned; what if he attacked others? What if he ran outside, and lashed out? He wasn't known at all, there would be no qualm in extinguishing his life by the others. What I decided to do was to wait by the entrance to our particular chamber in the den, and wait for something to happen. Luckily enough, several hours had passed, and nothing did. Delirium continued his rapid fire muttering until sleep overtook him, and he slumped against the wall, limply. Not long after he did so, Truth stirred, and she was up and moving. She walked over to me with a curious expresison, and stopped just close enough to obscure my entire field of vision. Little imp.

"What are you doing Harmony?" she yawned. "Why are you just sitting here, looking at the both of us?"

"Were you paying attention to Delirium before you dozed off?" I asked. Truth shook her head in reply.

"I'm ill, Harmony, I vomited during class, and the instructor sent me to rest. So, I was home before either of you."

"A rotten berry?" I asked. She shrugged in response.

"Get on with it. What was he doing?"

"Well, he was talking to himself," I replied, looking over at the smaller poochyena. His ears twitched as he slept, and for a frightening second, I thought that he heard me. "Well," I continued, cutting off Truth before she could further inquire. "More arguing, I think. He was speaking swiftly, and his tone suggested malice...I couldn't actually understand a word of it, though." Truth stepped back, and nodded to show that she understod.

"I guess he's called Delirium for a reason then, hm? You said you knew his name before he even hatched...how did you?" she asked. It wasn't the first time she had asked this, and by Arceus I knew that it wasn't going to be the last.

"I don't know...When I approached his egg, there was this calamity in my mind, it threw my thoughts and emotions into disarray...And the word that came to mind was delirium. I wonder if that's the mental state he's in? Unstable, chaotic, never settling on one solid emotion, never setting one one solid thought?"

"Would that be madness?" Truth asked. And for the first time in a very long while, I uttered the words-

"I do not know." Truth looked at me with an expression that vividly conveyed the same concern I felt for our brother. "I pray not. You know what the elders do to the mad, do you not?"

"No." she replied. "What do they do?"

"They deem them to be too dangerous to live among us. They think that without the proper state of mind, the insane will just be loose cannons, and quite the liability to all of us. So, the elders condemn them to death. There's no telling what they will pick next either, and I heard from father that they can be cruel."

"Cruel? That's hardly what comes to mind when I think of the old ones." Truth replied quietly. I nodded in agreement, and sighed.

"I spend a lot of time with the elder, Judas." I told her. "The elder Hyacinth told me that he can be as compassionate as he can be evil. And sometimes, he treats me better than father does." I said in an even quieter voice, in the event mother and father were listening.

"And so you believe that he would condemn our brother to death if he were to learn of this?" Truth hissed at me.

"I can't doubt the word of an elder!" I hissed back. "And aside the fact she's an elder, they've known one another for-"

"Centuries?" Truth interrupted with a wry grin. I shook my head angrily, though a part of me wanted to giggle.

"I don't know how long." I grumbled in reply. "That's hardly relevant though. You know, we might just be overthinking it. I mean, this is the first time that Delirium has displayed this sort of behavior. Maybe it will be the last?" I tried optimistically.

"Harmony, are you listening to yourself? His _name_ is Delirium!" she said in a fierce hiss. I then saw that she was just as worried as I was about the situation. She didn't want me treating the possibility of our sibling's death with disregard. I couldn't blame her, though I couldn't help but feel a bit hurt that she talked down to me as if I had a lesser intellect.

"No need to get twisted, Truth. Am I always calm?" I inquired. She nodded rather fiercely at me. I pretended not to notice. I wouldn't admit my defeat that easily. "The point is that our personalities aren't necessarily tied to our names. Does Christian seem like a good person to you?"

"We have our names for a reason, though." she pointed out. "And not just because mother or father chose it. You knew my name, and his name before either of us were born. That has to mean _something_."

As much as I wanted to continue arguing with Truth for the sake of my brother, I found that I couldn't. Before I had so adamantly insisted and tried to get her to believe that I knew who she would be before she hatched from the egg, there was no way that I could make her believe that it was merely nothing, now. I bit my tongue in thought, silently cursing myself for doing that. I guessed it would have been better for me to wait until the next egg was close to hatching to display that little tidbit. I assumed however, that either way, we could have come to this conversation, discussing Delirium's sanity. Maybe we would have had a few more. That made me think, since Delirium had hatched, I hadn't gone up to the eggs, and seen who would be next.

I found that my thoughts drowned out whatever Truth was saying to me after she made her final point- as she was giving me an expectant stare. Trying my best not to look like the most rude person to ever walk the planet, I nodded, and gave my firm reply; "I guess you're right. Time will tell."

It seemed to do the trick, and she slinked back into our part of the den, curling up into a tight little ball on the wall opposite Delirium. She didn't closed her eyes, but I knew that she didn't go back to sleep- seeing as how she had just woken up, and I saw from the rise and fall of her sides that her breath was currently erratic, paced unevenly. I smiled softly at their resting forms, feeling a somewhat inappropriate swell of pride, and I turned in a tight circle. Now, a part of me was nagging at my limbs, whispering in my ears, begging me to go back into the chamber with the eggs mother laid. I briefly wondered why we laid eggs; even if we were pokemon, I was fairly sure mightyena were warm-blooded creatures.

I stepped into the room with the four eggs, and I marveled at them for a few minutes. That common sense part of my brain left me to wonder why we left them unprotected, and then it dawned on me that they were never unprotected. One would have to be suicidal to wander this far into our home uninvited. Mother and father were powerful on an unspoken level. Or maybe they were just powerful on a level that I couldn't yet see or comprehend. I looked at all four of them- identical in pattern in color, only varying in size. I stepped forth, and approached the one nearest to me. I found that there was no response, no flood of feeling, nothing to let me know if another brother or sister was close yet. I approached the second, and I was met with the same disappointing result. I worried that maybe I wouldn't be able to tell what was inside anymore, or maybe the next one to be born had died inside of the shell. I berated myself silently, I was acting like a worried mother. Was that the worst of things...?

I stepped up to the third, and I was greeted with a relieving delight, as I felt energy roll off of the egg, and into me. I stepped closer, my gray fur brushing the shell in an attempt to get a better feeling of who was inside, what they might be like. The rush I got immediately made me think of the same feeling I got from Delirium's egg, but this one was not quite the same. It was just as confusing, just as chaotic, and just as disorienting- but it was much more unpleasant. There was an aura of evil about it, but I felt other things too; some just as strong, but hidden. There was compassion, love, mischief, and an ample amount of bravery. And searched as I could, I couldn't determine what tihs one's name would be. With a sigh, I pulled away, and all the feelings subsided, leaving me with a cool, calm, and collected mind.

Though, there was still unrest and discord within, the fact that I couldn't find the name troubled me a little. Deciding it was not best to linger on this, for the fear I would become obsessed, I strolled out of the egg room wondering what to do next. I wasn't tired, nor was I hungry, the sun was still high in the sky, and the elder Judas had been sick for several days (and had adamantly refused to see me). I pondered what I might do for a few minutes, and then it came to me. It was without a doubt one of the most childish thoughts to ever cross my mind, but it couldn't really hurt to try. Make friends.

I had Hiram of course, but I would try to make friends and companions out of my species and class. The only person I really ever interacted with that was not a poochyena or mightyena was Cynthia, the houndour. Frankly, I never really liked her, either. Suspecting that I was about to make a fool out of myself and that this was going to be one of the most embarassing days of my life, I sighed, and I went outside of the den. Do you recall how I said the entire clan was composed of classes, divided by species? Well, the entire clan resided on a mountainside, and our residence was the most highly elevated. Below us the next class, so on and so forth. I decided that it would be best to travel a couple of classes down- any further would have caused excessively needless complication. I didn't much like to look down on anybody, but I knew that despite being at the top, I was looked down on by many of the members of the lower classes.

Long story short, my presence earned glares and growls of hostility from the other members- this was the case until I got to where the absol resided. I guess they were more hospitible people. Out of seven classes, they were fifth on the chain, and at this point, were hardly considered part of the clan. They did almost everything for themselves, but they stilll weighed on the alpha's conscience, and he still helped care for them like he would every other member of the clan. I digress.

I was greeted almost immediately, and I was rather pleased to find that it was not by name. A small absol, maybe a year younger than me approached me with a little smile as soon as I found myself in their territory. He spoke a polite greeting, in a voice that was surprsingly high. I thought for a second that he was a female, but his scent proved me wrong. I knew that my voice wasn't exactly tenor, but there was no mistaking my gender by it. I smiled rather awkwardly, and I reciprocated the greeting. There was just something about this experience that made me feel like I should have been as shy as possible. Not like I really wanted to. Up where I lived, everyone knew me, I knew everyone- was this what I was like around people? Shy, awkward, reserved? Rather poor traits for the alpha male, I thought.

"Where'd you come from?" he asked me. "I haven't anything like you 'round here before."

"I came from up the mountain, where the highest class resides." I replied.

"Ya talk real funny- know that? Got a bit of an accent, y'know? Word choice is a bit odd, too. Ah, no use dwellin' on that though. What's your name?"

"Er...Harmony." I said, a little dumbfounded. How did _I _talk funny? Was he listening to himself? He was so...informal, almost a bastardized form of the language. I assumed that this was the norm among thm, and might have been part of the reason they were down on the food chain. I assumed that this must have been the norm among the lower classes, lower standards of living, less civilized acts and whatnot. Then again, fights often broke out in the clan's main hub, so I could'nt particularly point any paws about who was more civilized; for all I knew, these people could be infinitely hopsitible.

"Sounds like a lady would better wear that name," the absol child snickered. I frowned, and I felt a sense of...what was it, embarassment?

"And what would your name be?" I snapped back in an aggressive tone. Totally unfazed by any sort of offense, he shifted from standing even to slouching and leaning his weight on his right arm. How didn't that hurt him, I wondered? I never tried it, it looked so painful always.

"I'm Fang." he said with a proud simle. I snickered quietly. "What?" he demanded, looking a little annoyed and hurt.

"How original," I mused in a shaking voice. "I take it brawn runs in your family?" I added. I expected him to go into a rage, and start attacking, but I was surprised when I heard his laughter as well. I hadn't a clue why he thought it was funny- but it only served to make me laugh harder. And I couldn't really place my finger on what it was that was making me laugh so hard, but by the time I was done, water had welled up in the sides of my eyes, and my ribcage throbbed painfully. Not even Hiram was this amusing. Arceus forbid he ever heard me say that, though...

"So, Harmony, was it?" Fang asked. I gave a goofy nod in reply. "Tell me, if ya came from up on high, from the top class, what're ya doin' down here? Someone like you wouldn't wanna get their paws dirty in someplace like _this_," he inquired, a genuine confusion on his face. On the last word of his question, he turned his head in all directions, and I gave the area a brief observation. Truth be told, it hardly looked any different than my home. The only exception was the placement of some of the dens, and its white furred denizens.

"Well," I said, reaching and grasping eagerly for a lie. I knew somehow, that it would not end totally in my favor were I honest about the reason. "I was exploring. I decided that if I'm to be the alpha male some day, I should know who I'm looking after..." And there went that. I lied, and that lie wound up being the truth anyways.

"So, ya just wanted to come down and get to kn- wait wait, hold up, hold up! Did I hear that right? The alpha male?" he asked incredulously. I nodded carefully. Maybe I should have left that part out for later, when he had no choice but to tolerate me. Looking back on it now, that was probably a bad idea, it was best that it wound up the way that it did. "Dude, that's so awesome! Nobody would mess with ya- would they? You could do like, whatever you want, you get the most food, you get the hottest chicks, you damn lucky ducklett!" he exclaimed, suddenly looking alice. I smiled uneasily in reply, reluctant to tell him that that wasn't the way the alpha males lived. The look on his face when I failed to begin bragging told me he understood.

"I'm afraid to let you know you're far from the truth. We follow the rules as any other would- no one's above the rules. We're often challenged and fought out of envy and anger because of our position. We supposedly divide the rations equally- you're right in the part that we get more food. And...the 'hottest chicks' as you put it...well, one can only wish." I replied. I felt myself shudder as Rosa's face flashed through my mind.

"Way to piss on the parade," he pouted. I blinked a few times in surprise.

"Quite...immoderate language." I commented. "Do your mother and father allow that?" Fang waved a dismissive paw, suddenly looking very bitter. I decided I would not press that matter, and decided I ought learn more about him specifically. "Er...how old are you? I'm assuming four or five- the voice is making it hard, however." Fang opened his mouth to reply, and he caught himself, looking at me less than happily. I knew right then that we would get along.

"I'm five." he grumbled back, I saw he was fighting down a smile. "What about you, hm? You're fat enough to pass for a ten year old."

"And you are thin enough to be a female." I retorted. "I also happen to be six, _your elder_, if you will." Fang sneered back at me.

"My elder?" he laughed. "You're as much of an elder as my little sister."

The exchange of conversation went on for a good half an hour, a decent portion of words was sly and playful insults toward one another. I told him willingly of the things that I've said and done, and he was just as if not more open about his life. I noticed that not once did he ask about my mother or father, though, at one point I did again pester him with the matter, which lead to a contemptous glare from the smaller dark type. While I reasoned that given my advantage in age and size that I would win were there to be a fight of some sort, I wasn't eager to test his limits or be the victim of any more anger for that matter. I changed the subject quickly as possible, and he reverted into his casual self again. It was like a small Delirium was inside of him, ever changing, never stuck on one thought.

When I heard my name being screamed, even from several hundred yards away, I quickly apologized to Fang, and told him I would be back the next day. He nodded, and bounded uncomfortably close to me. Before I could ask what the little imp was planning, he stuck his tongue out and ran it along my cheek. I let loose a noise that would make my father check between my legs, and looked at Fang in relative shock. He blinked a few times at me, and stepped back, looking quite confused. "Whassamatta? Ain't never said 'goodbye' before?"

I merely shook my head in reply, and turned around before I felt the need to assault him grow, and began running home. And as I ran, I felt the edges of my mouth curl upward into a simle. Tried as I might to force my smile down, it didn't want to- in fact it seemed to want to grow the more I wanted it to go away. I knew that it would only spell trouble for me if I were to come home smiling like an idiot. None of us really ever smiled, there was no reason to. None of us really ever expressed anything except what was to be expected of us, though that generally changed in the evening when we were home and resting for the next day.

When I arrived in my class' hub, I was amused to see my father looking behind every rock, peeking into every nook and cranny to find me. When he turned his back to me, I scampered across the hub, and stood just beyond the entrance to our den. After a good fifteen minutes, I heard father cry with rage, and turn around, slowly walking back in the direction of home. Thinking that it would give me an excuse to grin the entirety of the night, I waited until he came into direct view, and I greeted father with a simple "Hello." I guess that effeminate shrieking ran in the family, because I was half tempted to kneel down and peer in between _his _legs.

When the echo of father's manly squeal subsided, he glared down at me, and I couldn't help but smile a little. I yawned for effect, and turned my head in the direction of the part of the den in which I slept. "Were you in need, father? I was sleeping." He shook his head furiously, and swiftly leaned down to pick me up by the nape, as if I were a feline kit. Quite the embarassing, I thought. Mood spoiled, I frowned and tucked my tail between my legs.

"You weren't sleeping." he growled at me. "I know for a fact you weren't here. If you want to fool me in the future, I advise knowing the entire situation before you step in and make a fool of yourself." I merely nodded, and I was expecting him to carry me into the rest area so that I would go to sleep early. To my surprise, I was taken into the part with the eggs- which I had habitually began to call 'The nursery'. The very first thing that I noticed was that my entire family was gathered in this room, each of them watching one of the four eggs intently. Upon approach, I knew that this was to be the one my next sibling came out of. Imagine my dismay when I still couldn't think of the name.

"Harmony wasn't here for the hatching of the last two." mother commented in a playful way that still made me feel guilty about my absences. I noticed that the egg had a few cracks in it already, and was shaking around time to time. I watched with an undying interest. After what seemed like an enternity, there was another crack. A violent shake or two, and a few more appeared on random parts of the shell. And then, as if there was some explosive force, the egg practically erupted, spewing shell and embyronic fluids everywhere. I wriggled from father's hold, and hid best I could behind his leg. I got some on my tail, and that was it. When that was said and done, we all got in close to look at the new pooch.

"It's a new young boy," mother cooed softly.

"Another one!?" Truth whined loudly. "When am I getting a sister?"

I poked my head into place so that the newborn was in my field of vision, and I was surprised to find him facing me. I gave a goofy little smile, and I swore it was smiling back at me. The newborn opened his eyes, and I felt all of my warm blood run cold. See, infants are really only ever capable of conveying their emotion in two ways, laughter, and waterworks. I could have sworn that in those eyes, I saw an evil, an evil that did its wrong delightfully.

"Discord," I said aloud.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so, that's the end of this chapter. Sorry that it took so long to get out, but you know how it goes. Writer's block, school, people, so on and so forth. Anyways, _HOW DO YOU LIKE IT SO FAR?_ Be honest, I won't get mad if you hate it. c:

Anyways, I'll try and be a bit more frequent, and I'll maybe have the next chapter out by mid-June or July. Ah, let me tell you how good it feels to finish. Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoyed this, and I have to be off, because I am now going to P.E. class.

**Harmony**: You're fat though.

Eheh. Read, review, and above all, enjoy!  
-Tek


End file.
